It is very unlikely that any bowl will sign a contract for the seventh-place Big East team. Reality says that the Big East will continue to have six bowl agreements per year and I hope the league office is able to negotiate for the best six deals possible this time around. Mike Tranghese has said several times that the bowl line-up is one of the top priorities for the Big East office at this time and, until proven wrong, I am going to take his word for it and see what happens.

Krocker Krapp Wrote:It is very unlikely that any bowl will sign a contract for the seventh-place Big East team. Reality says that the Big East will continue to have six bowl agreements per year and I hope the league office is able to negotiate for the best six deals possible this time around. Mike Tranghese has said several times that the bowl line-up is one of the top priorities for the Big East office at this time and, until proven wrong, I am going to take his word for it and see what happens.

While I am sure he is sincere, there is just so much one can do. Remember, the ACC added Miami, VT, and Boston College and didn't significantly improve their bowl line-up.

Cheers,
Neil

GoMinersGo Wrote:

KnightLight Wrote:

chavster Wrote:Uh noo... The Sun Bowl is an amazing game with tradition that trumps the Gator Bowl. Throw in the fact that it is the ONLY bowl game on CBS... thats right CBS not ESPN, the amazing support from the locals and you got yourself a fantastic bowl game. Its obvious you have never been to the Sun Bowl. I saw Texas v.s UNC and TCU beat USC and it was an amazing experience.

While El Paso does an incredible job in supporting the Sun Bowl Game...normally, "network tv" (CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX) generates higher TV ratings than cable...this past year, ESPN (Cable) had 10 bowl games with HIGHER TV ratings vs CBS' Sun Bowl....and ESPN had 8 bowl games with HIGHER TV ratings vs CBS' Gator Bowl.

History is great for locals/fans to enjoy...but that means little in regards to TV ratings today.

Yes, but that is deceiving. Because the Cable total audience is different than the Broadcast Network total audience. A 2.3 on Network TV is equivalent to a 3.37 on cable when you are talking total audience. Case in point, the Outback Bowl had a 3.37 rating with 3.2 million viewers on ESPN. The Sun Bowl had a 2.3 rating with 3.2 million viewers. The things you can learn while in an airport bar waiting for a flight.

That's nice...but maybe I will talk your language:

ESPN had 10 bowl games with HIGHER VIEWERSHIP vs CBS's Sun Bowl Game this year.

Here are the facts and there is nothign "deceiving" about it:

Household Viewership

Brut Sun Bowl: Oregon 56, USF 21, CBS:
2,554,678

Valero Alamo Bowl: Penn State 24, Texas A&M 17, ESPN:
2,568,881

Motor City Bowl: Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48, ESPN:2,584,994

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl: Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28, CBS:
2,960,799

Outback Bowl: Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17, ESPN:
3,260,313

Emerald Bowl: Oregon State 21, Maryland 14, ESPN:
3,463,061

Champs Sports Bowl: Boston College 24, Michigan State 21, ESPN:
3,561,309

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10, ESPN:
3,607,429

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl: Kentucky 35, Florida State 28, ESPN:
3,883,875

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State 10, UCF 3, ESPN:
3,986,674

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl: Texas 52, Arizona State 34, ESPN:
4,223,682

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Auburn 23, Clemson 20 (OT), ESPN:
4,919,331

Nobody cares about Oregon outside of Oregon. USF is in pretty much the same situation at present, although their national image is growing (If they could just quit falling on their face every time they get some recognition). But that is why the Sun Bowl got such lousy numbers.

If WVU had played in the Sun Bowl the ratings would have looked far different.

chavster Wrote:Uh noo... The Sun Bowl is an amazing game with tradition that trumps the Gator Bowl. Throw in the fact that it is the ONLY bowl game on CBS... thats right CBS not ESPN, the amazing support from the locals and you got yourself a fantastic bowl game. Its obvious you have never been to the Sun Bowl. I saw Texas v.s UNC and TCU beat USC and it was an amazing experience.

The Sun Bowl pales in comparison to the Gator Bowl.

The Sun Bowl has not been played on January 1st since 1958.
The Sun Bowl has not played on the same date in December for more than four years in a row, ever.

And while the Sun Bowl was building its tradition on games like 2nd Air Force vs Hardin Simmons and Villanova vs. Withita State the Gator Bowl was kicking off its tradition with games like Wake Forrest-South Carolina, Oklahoma-NC State, Georgia-Maryland and Clemson-Missouri.

And yes, I've been to the Sun Bowl. Beautiful place. Nice bowl game.

Doesn't hold a candle to the Gator Bowl. BTW the Gator was on CBS this year after a 15 year run on NBC. It hasn't been on ESPN since 1989.

The Gator has also not had to give up its name to sponsors like the John Hancock Bowl or the Brut Bowl either, as the Sun Bowl has done in the past decade.

And the Gator matchup of ACC #2 vs Big East #2, which is the way it was for over a decade before the ACC raid which still only moved it to ACC3 vs BigEast2 is still a sight better than Pac 10 #3 vs Big XII #5 any day.

omnicarrier Wrote:

Krocker Krapp Wrote:It is very unlikely that any bowl will sign a contract for the seventh-place Big East team. Reality says that the Big East will continue to have six bowl agreements per year and I hope the league office is able to negotiate for the best six deals possible this time around. Mike Tranghese has said several times that the bowl line-up is one of the top priorities for the Big East office at this time and, until proven wrong, I am going to take his word for it and see what happens.

While I am sure he is sincere, there is just so much one can do. Remember, the ACC added Miami, VT, and Boston College and didn't significantly improve their bowl line-up.

I agree. That is why I attempt to be what most impartial observers would consider realistic when trying to project future bowl line-ups. Some people, however, are not interested in that type of reality and would rather fantasize about the Big East getting seven or eight bowl deals and bumping other BCS leagues from bowls in the middle of their own home territories. Oh well. To each his own and we will see where things stand when the smoke clears in 2010.